


Small Talk

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 1, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 20:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7375627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Silly officers discuss silly things when trying to take their minds off of the fight at hand, and an asari struggles to fully understand human culture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Talk

“Good morning,” Liara offered as she stepped up to the table to join Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko. Both offered her bright smiles as she sat. Even at this early hour, she admired their ability to appear so happy and hopeful even in their current, dangerous situation in the fight with Saren. It all could have been a ruse, of course, a song and dance to make the rest of the Normandy’s crew feel better, but it also might have just been a human resilience thing. She couldn’t be sure.

The two turned their attention to their food, but the asari noticed the sidelong glances they shot one another from time to time. She wondered if she was intruding on their conversation and suddenly felt very awkward and apologetic. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“No, no,” the Lieutenant answered. He flashed her another broad smile before continuing. Somehow, she didn’t entirely believe the words. “You didn’t. Just a bit of chatter to pass the time. How are you?”

“I am well,” Liara answered. Her bright blue gaze drifted back and forth between the two Alliance officers. There was something else going on here that she simply couldn’t place. Having never really worked with humans before, she wondered if she might have offended with lack of manners or something of the sort. Heat rose in her cheeks as she became more self-conscious with each passing moment. The silence was deafening and so she scrambled to change the subject. “Do all of you prefer to be up so early?”

“Humans? Or soldiers?” Kaidan’s gentle chuckle brought a smile to her face. “I’ve always been an early riser, but not everyone is like that. In the military, though, they sort of train you to be.”

“I see,” Liara said as she thought of the asari commandos. It was similar for them, she knew.

“Do you like coffee, Liara?” Shepard asked as she raised a steaming hot mug to her lips.

“I can’t say that I’m a fan, no. It’s very bitter,” Liara responded as she moved reconstituted food around on her plate. None of it was particularly appetizing, but it was convenient and perhaps even necessary. She wasn’t going to be able to put up much of a fight without some sustenance, after all.

“I suppose it can be,” Shepard acknowledged, her grin widening as she breathed in the steam wafting up from the mug in her hands. “There are things you can do to make it better.”

“I prefer tea, usually,” Liara said, suddenly very curious about the Commander’s strange behavior and tone.

“I’m certainly not one to judge anyone’s preferences,” Shepard confessed with a chuckle.

Kaidan offered nothing but a muffled snort in response, covering it quickly with a sip of his coffee.

“Have you ever enjoyed coffee with another officer, Lieutenant?” The Spectre glanced over at him with a rather mischievous expression settling over her features.

He, meanwhile, nearly choked on his drink. Liara’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as she watched him struggle to answer what seemed to her like a fairly innocuous question. She wondered, again, whether she was missing some sort of human subtext with which she was yet unfamiliar.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Shepard continued. Her grin never wavered. “I haven’t, either. This is nice.”

Liara merely shook her head, resigning herself to never really understanding human culture. She began to eat, curious as to what Shepard’s obsession with a standard beverage was really all about.

“And just how do you like your coffee, Commander?” Kaidan had contained himself and was sporting a rather amused grin. This little inside joke appeared to be turning his ears red. Humans were certainly strange creatures.

“Strong,” Shepard answered, not skipping a beat. “Strong and sweet,” she added, her tone and delivery suddenly becoming quiet, almost breathy.

“Ahh,” came his subtle reply. His food had long ago gone cold, from the looks of his plate. Something other than breakfast was on his mind, it seemed.

“What about you?”

Kaidan scratched the back of his neck. It almost appeared as though he was embarrassed to discuss the preparation of his beverages, though Liara didn’t quite understand why. His eyes flicked to her for a moment as a flush rose to his cheeks. “I, uh… I guess I like to change it up.”

“Is that so?” Shepard was far too intrigued by that answer, in Liara’s opinion. She leaned a little closer to him, swirling the dark liquid in the cup with one hand while the other pensively rested under her chin. “A buttoned-up, proper, refined man like yourself doesn’t have a standard style? Expect the unexpected, hmm? I’m surprised.”

“I’m fairly sure I mentioned before that…” Kaidan paused, hushed laughter mingling with his words. “I like adventure.”

“Ahh yes,” the Commander agreed as she sat back in her seat and curled both hands around her cup. Liara didn’t think she’d even touched her food. She wondered why either of them had bothered to gather any rations at all. “I recall you saying something along those lines.”

“It’s all about the company you keep,” Kaidan added, his face still tinged with red and his eyes locked on the cup in his hand. “To enjoy the coffee to its fullest, however it’s prepared, I mean.”

Shepard nodded, and it seemed as though she was trying to keep her smile somewhat hidden, though Liara couldn’t fathom why that might be necessary. “We can agree on that, then. It has to be someone special.”

Liara’s eyes narrowed as she observed the two officers. If she didn’t know any better, she would have assumed that they were talking about something that may not have, in fact, been coffee. The conversation was far too intense and inexplicably meaningful for either of them to really be discussing what they drank with their breakfast. After much internal debate, she mustered the confidence to simply ask. “What are you two talking about?”

Shepard smirked and stood, carrying her mug along with her as she placed a reassuring hand on the asari’s shoulder. Her gaze flicked to Kaidan for only a moment before she leaned in to answer. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Liara rolled her eyes and sighed. “Oh, very funny, Shepard.”


End file.
